Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39333569›Full record

ArticleNature communications2024

The role of water mobility on water-responsive actuation of silk.

Darjan Podbevšek, Yeojin Jung, Maheen K Khan, Honghui Yu, Raymond S Tu, Xi Chen

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Nature communications, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
8citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

8 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Additive-Free TiAdvanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2026
    Article
  7. Discrete Actuation of Water-Responsive Crystalline Metal-Peptide Frameworks.Angewandte Chemie (International ed. in English) · 2025
    Article
  8. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Darjan PodbevšekAdvanced Science Research Center (ASRC) at the Graduate Center, The City University of New York, 85 St. Nicholas Terrace, New York, NY, 10031, USA.ORCID 0000-0001-9975-6788
Yeojin JungAdvanced Science Research Center (ASRC) at the Graduate Center, The City University of New York, 85 St. Nicholas Terrace, New York, NY, 10031, USA.
Maheen K KhanAdvanced Science Research Center (ASRC) at the Graduate Center, The City University of New York, 85 St. Nicholas Terrace, New York, NY, 10031, USA.
Honghui YuDepartment of Mechanical Engineering, The City College of New York, 275 Convent Ave, New York, NY, 10031, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-4095-2084
Raymond S TuAdvanced Science Research Center (ASRC) at the Graduate Center, The City University of New York, 85 St. Nicholas Terrace, New York, NY, 10031, USA. tu@ccny.cuny.edu.ORCID 0000-0002-6192-7665
Xi ChenAdvanced Science Research Center (ASRC) at the Graduate Center, The City University of New York, 85 St. Nicholas Terrace, New York, NY, 10031, USA. xchen@gc.cuny.edu.ORCID 0000-0002-2985-358X

Funding

National Science Foundation (NSF) CBET-2238129National Science Foundation (NSF) ITE-2344305United States Department of Defense | United States Air Force | AFMC | Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AF Office of Scientific Research) FA9550-21-1-0144
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Biological water-responsive materials that deform with changes in relative humidity have recently demonstrated record-high actuation energy densities, showing promise as high-performance actuators for various engineering applications. However, there is a lack of theories capable of explaining or predicting the stress generated during water-responsiveness. Here, we show that the nanoscale confinement of water dominates the macroscopic dehydration-induced stress of the regenerated silk fibroin. We modified silk fibroin's secondary structure, which leads to various distributions of bulk-like mobile and tightly bound water populations. Interestingly, despite these structure variations, all silk samples start to exert force when the bound-to-mobile (B/M) ratio of confined water reaches the same level. This critical B/M water ratio suggests a common threshold above which the chemical potential of water instigates the actuation. Our findings serve as guidelines for predicting and engineering silk's WR behavior and suggest the potential of describing the WR behavior of biopolymers through confined water.

Indexed as

FibroinsSilkWaterAnimalsBombyxHumidityFibroinsSilkWater

Identifiers

PMID39333569
PMCPMC11436739

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.